Method and apparatus for shipping electronically stored communications data

An apparatus for shipping electronically stored data, comprising:

• an information carrier having electronic data stored thereon and requiring postal franking, said information carrier having a plurality of memory regions including at least one memory region for storing shipping data;
• a read-write module communicating with said information carrier for reading out the shipping data;
• a postage meter device being integrated with said read-write module and having a memory;
• a postage table stored in said memory and communicating with said read-write module for receiving the shipping data and calculating a postage value appropriate for shipment of said information carrier;
• said postage meter device having means for accounting for the calculated postage value for said information carrier;
• and
• means communicating with said postage meter device for printing a postage imprint on an item to be shipped corresponding to the calculated postage value.

An apparatus for shipping flat information carriers having electronic data stored thereon and requiring postal franking, comprising:

• a read-write module communicating with a flat information carrier having electronic data stored thereon and requiring postal franking for reading out shipping data stored in at least one of a plurality of memory regions of the information carrier;
• a postage meter device integrated with said read-write module for accounting for a calculated postage value for the information carrier;
• a postage table stored in a memory of said postage meter device and communicating with said read-write module for receiving the shipping data and calculating a postage value to be printed by said postage meter device appropriate for shipment of the information carrier;
• and
• means communicating with said postage meter device for printing a postage imprint corresponding to the calculated postage value.